Scratch Beginnings_ Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream - Adam W. Shepard [87]
After the New Year, my life really started to take shape. With a truck, a furnished apartment, and forty-hour workweeks, I was well ahead of where I thought I was going to be after just five or six months.
We all have our vices, though. For some, it’s alcohol or drugs. Maybe gambling or adultery for others. Fortunately, I was able to keep mine—the greasy buffet at Mama D’s Dirty South Barbecue on Dorchester Road—under control by eating there just once a week on Sundays. For the most part, in fact, my new eating habits were a huge change for the better. I was preparing my own breakfast and packing sandwiches and trail mix for lunch. I was really starting to save money, and I was eating right at the same time. BG would inquire about the dinner recipe for the evening, and then he would shake his head and take off for Burger King or Arby’s, so the kitchen was mine to concoct whatever kind of creations I could come up with. If there was one distinct advantage I had in completing this project, it was that I could eat chicken and Rice-A-Roni® for every meal, every day. I love it and there’s not much I can do about it. I mean, what’s not to like? Chicken is chicken and can be cooked ten thousand different ways, and Rice-A-Roni is just absolutely delicious. For about a dollar, I could whip up two generous portions of “the San Francisco Treat,” one for now, one for later. Sure, I could have saved a few bucks if I had purchased a fifty-pound bag of white rice with my new Sam’s Club membership, but there is simply no way to substitute for those flavor packets inside the box. They’re unequaled. Spanish Rice, Parmesan and Romano Cheese, Beef, Whole Grain Roasted Garlic Italiano, Chicken and Herb, Fried Rice—there are like a hundred different flavors. Joined with a new chicken recipe and a can of corn or green beans, every night was a feast. And that wasn’t even the best part. In just one box of Broccoli Au Gratin Rice-A-Roni (unquestionably the best flavor), I was getting a healthy serving of carbohydrates, thiamine, and folic acid. All that and nearly 100 percent of my daily value of sodium! You can’t beat that.
I was quickly learning the value of a dollar, too. Early on, living at 409B Pine Hollow, I realized why my youth had been filled with scoldings from my mom to “Close the door or I’m gonna forward you the electric bill! What are you tryin’ to do, air condition the great outdoors?” On January 9, the electric bill came, and it was crazy. Crazy to the tune of $209 for our two-bedroom duplex, just for the month of December. BG was already sensitive to spending a dollar on anything he didn’t deem absolutely necessary, so he was particularly annoyed when we got the electric bill. He spent the entire month of January making sure all of the doors and windows were shut tight and lights were off in the house. I liked where his head was at, but at times, it was getting to be a little too much.
“Dog, what did I tell you about keepin’ the lights on?” he asked me one night.
“Dude, I’m cookin’ dinner in here.”
“I don’t give a shit. Them lights cost. Cook during the day. I tell you what, we’re just gonna each start paying for every time we have a light on. I’m gonna keep track.”
So, he walked around with a notepad for the next two days before he realized that his math skills weren’t up to par. But we understood what we had to do. We started smartening up about our energy usage, and by the end of January, our bill was back down around $125 where it was supposed to be. As a matter of fact, we were conserving across the board—water, laundry detergent, dish liquid, toiletries. Everything costs, and we did everything we could to keep our costs down.
My only big splurge was a gym membership at East Shore Athletic Club, which, at less than $43 per month, was well worth it. I had access to nautilus and cardio equipment, free weights,